Many machines and systems are operated centrally controlled from a control cabinet. This control cabinet contains control units, frequency inverters, current supply, safety devices and much more. However, control cabinet space is expensive. The larger a machine or system becomes, the larger the control cabinets become and the more complex it is to realise changes in the system.
With a decentralised conceptmany functions move from the control cabinet to the system or machine - close to the control elements or inverters that are needed, for example. The system can be modularly designed and tested, the amount of cabling in the control cabinet is massively reduced and energy efficiency increases.
Customer requirements are changing faster and faster. Factories are adapting to changing demands. Customised products, i.e. batch size 1, are more or less standard nowadays, and mass production is almost only used for consumables.
This flexibility in productiondecentralised drive and automation technology makes it possible to quickly adapt production lines to new products or changing demand. Instead of rigid materials handling technology, these processes can be processes can be quickly and easily adapted to new workflows. And in contrast to centrally controlled systems, no major programming and cabling work is required.
Concepts for decentralised drive technology relocate the intelligence and the controlling electronics (frequency inverter) from the control cabinet to the drive. The power rating and control electronics can be mounted directly on the housing of the motor. The intelligence for controlling the motor is thus relocated from the control cabinet to the drive. However, if there is not enough space, for example, the electronics can also be placed close to the motor, i.e. remotely.
The advantages of a decentralised installation only become apparent from a certain size of system and a certain number of decentralised drives.
With classic decentralised drives, the frequency inverter moves to or close to the motor - these can be asynchronous motors or servomotors. However, depending on the production process, for example in food production, asynchronous motors cannot always be used, as they usually have a fan and cooling fins for heat dissipation. This fan can spread germs with the air flow. The cooling fins are also not easy to clean.
Mechatronics technicians, i.e. the complete integration of motor, gear unit and inverter in one housing concept, offer many advantages. Firstly, space is saved as the gear unit and motoring operation are directly interlinked. In addition, the inverter and control technology are customised to the application. If a fanless motor, e.g. a servomotor, is used as the drive, the heat generated only needs to be dissipated via an easy-to-clean housing.
We call this integration and high functional compression mechatronics technician. This is why our MOVIGEAR® is also a mechatronics technician drive solution.
With the MOVI-C® modular automation system from SEW-EURODRIVE, complete automation is possible. This means a universal solutionfrom a single manufacturer - from software for planning, startup, operation and diagnostics, to electronics, open-loop control and mechanical drives. You receive all the necessary automation components from a single source. Naturally, they can be fully integrated into all automation concepts, fieldbus topologies and network standards. You are completely free to choose your own communication topology. MOVI-C® offers you all the advantages in communicationfrom PROFIBUS to Industrial Ethernet to Modbus or, in future, OPC UA.